


Goddamnit, Valdez

by shannonissatan



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: First Kiss, M/M, also i may or may not add something else to this on how frank and jason pulled off the heist, and adding my own little headcanon of percy being 'straight-but-shit-happens', completely disregarding the last chapter of HoH, in which leo is a cockblock
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-12
Updated: 2014-01-12
Packaged: 2018-01-08 10:53:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1131800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shannonissatan/pseuds/shannonissatan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I had a random idea in the shower that I laughed at so loudly it disturbed my mom five rooms away. So of course, I wrote it down. Contains spoilers through most of HoH.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Goddamnit, Valdez

Nico couldn't exactly recall how they'd gotten into this one.

He, Percy, and Leo had been manning the _Argo II_ while everyone else went on a snack run. That was all he could remember before his memory abruptly cut out, like pulling the battery out of a cell phone mid-conversation. When he became aware of his surroundings again, the first thing he noticed was that he definitely wasn't alone.

Nico's eyes fluttered open as he lifted his head, neck sore from the angle it had been at. He blinked hard and gave his eyes a few seconds to focus before realizing his situation—he and Percy were mummified in a single cocoon of duct tape, chest-to-chest, leaning against the side of the ship. Nico had inadvertently been using Percy's shoulder as a pillow while he'd been out, and the older boy now smiled down at him.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Percy muttered sarcastically. He was understandably pissed off at the position he was in, tightly bound to who he would probably consider a moody kid, with his dominant hand bent in such a way between them that he couldn't possibly retrieve Riptide from his pocket. Nico's own blade had been tossed carelessly across the deck, far beyond their reach, and they'd been strategically placed so he couldn't shadow travel his way out of it for at least a few hours.

“What happened?” Nico mumbled, shaking himself awake. It was a bad idea, as their faces were so close, and he ended up smacking Percy in the nose with his forehead. “Sorry,” he added.

“I think it's Jason's and Frank's idea of fun,” Percy guessed. “They ran off a few minutes ago with Leo's tool belt and a stopwatch.”

Nico sighed in frustration and hit his head against Percy's shoulder again. It was then that he realized that he was pressed tightly against _Percy freaking Jackson,_ the guy he'd wanted to interchangeably strangle and have make out with him against a wall. The first guy—first _person—_ he'd fallen for after the Lotus Hotel. He felt his face go red and kicked himself for not noticing sooner.

“Nico, you're blushing,” Percy stated. _No shit, Sherlock,_ Nico scolded in his head. He glared sideways at the older boy, who would almost certainly have backed away if he had the option.

Nico lifted his head and found himself pretty much nose-to-nose with Percy. It was extremely awkward, and he was suddenly insanely self conscious, but Nico liked it. His heart was racing, not with fear or adrenaline, but with the nerves that came with emotions like this. For the first time in a long time, Nico actually felt... Alive.

At this point, Nico had two words running through his head: Fuck it. Sure, doing what he was planning would be more embarrassing than when he'd caught Piper and Jason feeling each other up in the armoury (he would _never_ get that image out of his head), but he didn't care anymore. So he went for it.

Nico leaned forward, closing the few inches between his and Percy's faces and planting a kiss on a shocked Percy's lips. Percy made a little noise of surprise but waited until Nico pulled away.

“I—”

“Shh!” Percy interrupted, looking over Nico's shoulder. They heard a shuffle below the deck before Leo appeared, his hair smoking and a crazy smile on his face.

“Aha!” he called triumphantly. “Leo Valdez to the rescue!”

“My hero,” Percy mumbled. Leo didn't hear him, but pulled a razor knife from his back pocket and sliced their duct tape prison apart. Immediately, Nico peeled the tape off of his shirt and fled to the storage room he'd transformed into a makeshift bedroom.

 

* * *

 

Nico had been sulking under his blanket for nearly an hour before Hazel showed up.

“Nico?” she called quietly, cracking the door open. “Can I come in?”

In reply, Nico just mumbled nonsense into his pillow, but when Hazel offered some mangoes that Piper had conjured from her cornucopia, he let her in. They talked for a while about nothing important, like how he was always welcome upstairs in her room and how he was perfectly comfortable in his little storage area thank you very much.

“Oh, by the way, Percy said he wanted to talk to you,” Hazel added just before she left half an hour later. “He didn't say why, just that he'd be in his room.”

Nico gave himself a few minutes to man up before he made his way upstairs to Percy's room. He knocked twice and stood back shyly, fighting the urge to melt into the shadows and put himself somewhere he could die quickly, like the dark side of the moon.

Percy opened the door while he attempted to wrestle a shirt over his head, clearly having just showered. His hair, although dry, was sticking up in every direction, and there was a lingering scent of soap in the air. Nico found it kind of hot, then immediately regretted the thought.

“Hey,” Percy greeted, giving Nico a soft smile. “Come on in.”

Hesitantly, Nico crossed the threshold. Percy waved a hand over at his bed, offering it as a seat, which Nico looked at for a second before accepting. Percy took a second to hop around, attempting to put his socks on, which he ultimately failed at when he fell ass-first on other side of the bed with two bare feet. Nico laughed at him when he let himself fall backwards, his head landing beside Nico's hand.

“You know, I'm not completely oblivious,” Percy said after Nico's laughter died down. He sat up and turned around, moving so he was sitting cross-legged beside Nico. “I knew.”

“What!?” Nico nearly yelled in shock. He made to get up, but Percy grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back down.

“Nobody told me, relax,” Percy assured him. “Last night, I... I had a dream. I saw you. Sleeping. Saying my name...”

Nico's face became redder than Cupid's eyes—the dreams he'd had the past few nights hadn't exactly been PG, and the night before he'd woken up grinding into his mattress. He tried to speak, but Percy cut him off again.

“I know what it's like,” he admitted, “to like someone you don't think you should. It's happened to me before, trust me.”

Nico looked at him skeptically. The way Percy was speaking made Nico think he wasn't talking about thinking of another girl while he was with Annabeth.

“You're not...?”

“No,” Percy replied quickly. “I just... Fantasies, that's all. I still love Annabeth, but let's just say I'm glad we don't usually sleep in the same room.”

Nico smirked. “So you're not mad at me?”

“Mad? Why would I be mad? You're a sexually frustrated teenager; I'm _honoured_ to be featured in your x-rated dreams.” Nico punched him. They were silent for a minute before Percy spoke up again.

“So... Earlier... I was thinking that that was hardly a real kiss.” Nico's eyes widened. Was Percy suggesting what he thought he was suggesting? Then he felt Percy grab his hand and he realized that the answer was yes. Nico's pulse rose again as Percy put his free hand on the back of his neck, pulled him in, and kissed him.

Nico realized just how hilariously accurate the phrase “kissed me senseless” was. He was suddenly hyper aware of how Percy's grip on his hand was getting tighter, how his fingertips were playing with the hair on the back of his neck, and how his breath tasted somehow sweet and salty at the same time. His lips were soft, and somehow they moved effortlessly against his own. Nico had no idea what to do with his free hand, so he just flailed for a moment before finally deciding to grab a handful of the blanket on the bed between them, afraid that he'd push Percy's limits if he did much more. He thought this had to be the best first kiss anyone could ever have.

So of course, this had to be the moment Leo would barge in.

“Hey Percy, I—” Both boys whipped their heads around as soon as they heard Leo, but it was too late. He'd already spotted them.

“Is the word 'knock' even in your vocabulary?” Nico nearly shouted. Leo just stood in the doorway, gaping like a fish, until he made the decision to back away. Bad choice, especially since he was trying to get away from two of the most powerful demigods alive. Nico went one way while Percy went the other, and within seconds they had Leo at swordpoint.

“Tell nobody, or I'll drown you in the Lethe myself,” Nico snarled, holding his blade half an inch from a very panicked-looking Leo's throat. Percy stood behind Leo's back, sniggering as quietly as he could manage while their unintentional witness nodded as much as he dare.

“Y-yeah, I didn't see anything,” Leo promised. “I definitely didn't see you two kissing.” At the last three words, Nico moved forward, prompting Leo to back right into Percy. Leo squeaked.

“Swear on the Styx,” Nico demanded. 

“I swear on the Styx.” Nico nodded and gave Leo a creepy half-smile, seeming satisfied. Then he scowled, sheathed his sword, pushed Leo down the hall, dragged Percy back into his room by the wrist, and locked the door behind them. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'll leave it up to you to decide what they do next. Also yes I made Nico both literally and figuratively come out of the closet. Sue me, why don't you.


End file.
